The Good Path

1 Timothy 1:5
The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (NIV84)

The goal of the Bible’s instruction is to produce in you divine selfless love, which comes about in you through a pure heart and a good conscience with sincere faith. I love this Scripture. I love it because it is so helpful in understanding the whole meaning of life. God has an object, and this Scripture tells us what that object is—our transformation into beings of divine selfless love.

1 John 4:16
God is love. (NIV84)

The goal of the Bible’s instruction is to produce in us divine selfless love, and this passage tells us that God is divine selfless love. In this next passage, we see the Bible’s definition of just what this love that God is, is.

1 Corinthians 13:4–7Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (NIV84)

And because God is love, we can say…

God is patient, God is kind. God does not envy, God does not boast, God is not proud. God is not rude, God is not self-seeking, God is not easily angered, God keeps no record of wrongs. God does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. God always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

The goal of the Bible’s instruction is to mold you into a being that is like God, and if you read the above Scripture carefully, you will see that God is completely selfless. God is all powerful. He could have created a bunch of slaves, but instead he gave to us free will. Read the above list very carefully. Ponder it deeply. Think on it. Realize it. Do you think that God is trying to coerce people into doing right or else? God is not forcing you to do anything. If he were, then you would do it. If God were forcing you then you, would be forced. No one can resist God’s power, especially you.

Judgment Day is coming—true—but given the understanding of what sort of person God really is, consider that Judgment Day is coming and God has come to us as Savior.

John 3:17
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (NIV84)

God’s love for his children cannot allow the evil to victimize them forever. Evil has sprung up among God’s children, willingly, because the children were free to be evil, but the Lord God of love is always working to bring to sense those that are lost.

2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (NIV84)

The Lord God’s character is selfless love—truly. Wickedness is rapidly growing and victimizing those that are meek and gentle, but he has promised those that are waiting to be saved from the selfish and greedy.

The selfish and greedy grabbers and takers know that Judgment Day is coming, and they grit their teeth and shake their fists at God, claiming that God is the one that is demanding. Isn’t that always the way? The greedy are blinded by their greed, the cruel excited by their perceived power, the oppressors convinced of their superiority and right to dominate the weak; but the selfless God has set a Day for all of that to stop.

The goal of God’s commands is to produce in you divine selfless love. This is his goal because he is unwilling that any be lost and desires that everyone look into themselves and repent of selfishness, so that they can escape the Judgment that is coming for those that love their selfishness, that is, those that love themselves above all others.

My friends, I will share with you a secret. It is the nature of Life to grow. Eternal life must be surrounded by those that nurture. The Weeds must be removed from the producing Life. The tumor must be excised from the healthy body.

Matthew 13:24–30
Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. 27 “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’ 28 “ ‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ 29 “ ‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’ ” (NIV84)

God has no desire to harm the healthy, so he bears with great patience the weeds of society, so as not to harm those whom he loves; but at the appointed time, the malignant will be removed from society. We do have God’s promise on that.

Above we saw the object of God’s instruction, and we also saw how that object, love, is nurtured. We saw in 1 Timothy 1:5 that love comes from “a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” We attain the goal of love when we keep our heart pure, by keeping our conscience clear, and we do this when we keep our faith sincere, that is, our object in our relationship with God is to become like God which pleases him because that is the way of Life. What this means is that from our hearts we rid ourselves of selfishness and become ourselves children of selfless love. Jesus said it this way…

Matthew 16:25
For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. (see also Mark 8:35 and Luke 9:24—NIV84)

God is selfless and if we would save our own lives we must walk down the path of selflessness too. Evil people will never do this. It is for you to empty yourself and be filled with the Joy of God. My friend, have you ever done a completely selfless act for someone else? If you have, then you understand what the love of God feels like when it blossoms within you.

Maintain a pure heart. When you perceive yourself passing down a selfish path then stop, repent, and turn back to the path dictated by your sincere belief and understanding that God’s selfless way is the only way. If God is truly your Lord then obey him. Do this because you know that he is right. Do this because God himself is love, and you want to grow up to become like him. Be like Christ yourself. Be the balm that soothes and heals.

4 Comments on “The Good Path”

Sometimes it is hard to seek after selflessness because the world in which we live is so opposite from God. So often we hear that it’s a good thing to seek things for yourself because after all ‘you deserve it’! But this is not the way that God wants us to take. He desires for us to follow His peaceful way. It’s actually really simple to find the things that please God, they are the opposite of what the world tells you to do and His ways are revealed in Scripture.

We are here but a breath and while we are here, let us seek after the Good Lord God and put away the selfish desires of the flesh. Nothing is more important than following Jesus with all of your heart and like the article above says, we should be growing in more knowledge and love as each day passes to bring us to be more like God.